Bering Island
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Bering Island
Bering Island (bērˈĭng, bârˈ–), Rus. Beringa, largest of the Komandorski Islands, c.55 mi (90 km) long and up to c.15 mi (20 km) wide, off Kamchatka peninsula, E Russian Far East, in the Bering Sea. It is low and treeless and is subject to severe windstorms. Nikolskoye is the chief town. Vitus Bering, sailing in the St. Peter, was shipwrecked and died there.
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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Bering Island
a western island of the Komandorskie Islands group in the Bering Sea (Kamchatka Oblast, RSFSR). Its area is 1,660 sq km. The southeastern part of Bering Island is mountainous (the highest point is 751 m) and is composed of tufaceous deposits from the Paleogene and Neogene and effusions of Anthropogenic formations. The climate is maritime and subarctic. Precipitation is about 500 mm a year. The island is covered with tundra vegetation, and in the valleys there are meadows, with Erman’s and Middendorfs birch. The shore is a breeding ground for northern fur seals and Steller’s sea lions; sea otters are also found there. The population is Russian and Aleutian. There is a maritime fur combine. The island is named after V. Bering.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.